Yeah I know, late again. I apologize. Never apply to a university, too much hassle (don't take me seriously I'm just tired). Okay, well, enjoy.

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Chapter Eighteen:

Black t-shirt with rips and tears, pants torn apart, every piece of clothing and showing skin was dirty and bloody. The orange jacket he'd been wearing at school was missing. Blood caked his blonde hair.

"Holy shit! Naruto!" The raven darted forward, landing hard on his knees in front of the battered blonde. Gently but hastily, he picked up his face. Bloody and bruised, eyes closed. He felt for a pulse on his neck with hands that shook so uncontrollably that it was hard for him to steady them against Naruto's skin. Sasuke's heart flew into his throat when he failed to find one. Frantically he continued searching every inch of the boy's neck for any source of life only to finally except this as a useless task and picked up the blonde's wrist. Again he pressed his fingers to a place where one might find a pulse. Tears welled up when none presented itself.

"Naruto please, please don't-" Sasuke's throat closed up, as though cursing himself for even thinking that word or that course of fate. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he pulled the boy's head close to his to rest their forehead's together. "Naruto... don't do this to me. I love you."

--

Naruto clutched his bleeding arm. It was as though a week of his pain caused by Emi had been condensed into a split second. He'd never felt anything like it and he could not hold back the tears of pain that came with his cry. Glancing around, he looked to see what was happening. No one had come over to help him, they were ignoring him like he was not there and had not just gotten shot. Temari had the blonde named Deidara cornered, though he fought back with determination and did not appear to be giving up any time soon. Gaara seemed to have relieved Sasori of his gun but did not use it against him. With his bare hands he had snapped the gun in half after pouring the bullets out. Naruto never realized how strong the small framed redhead was. Kankuro seemed to be the only one from his group who was having trouble. It seemed that the weapons and shielding concealed in the other redhead's puppet were superior to Kankuro's. Then again, Sasori had mentioned that the puppet Kankuro possessed had been his at one point. If he was the maker, it was no surprise that he'd made a stronger and better one than the ones he sold.

Naruto didn't know what to do. He was stunned to a stand still. He could die if this continued, and who was to know that was Sasori's only gun? And Deidara had yet to reveal one, they could all die.

Fear was clearly dimming his blue eyes as he watched the fighting. They were only children. How could they get caught up in a world like this? Naruto's eyes widened. Sasuke had been right, they weren't as innocent as they'd said they were. Temari had already said that they'd done things in the past... recently. They had a history of this kind of thing and it was not in defense. The Sabaku family enjoyed this life... they were not innocent people... and they dragged him down with them.

The realization hit him so hard he failed to notice another gunshot. This one originated from Sasori once again, hell knows where he pulled it out from... somewhere in that puppet of his. This bullet landed square in Kankuro's shoulder. However, unlike Naruto, Kankuro merely grunted, rolled his shoulder then continued fighting, getting a good punch in on Sasori's jaw. He'd obviously taken a bullet before.

This time, Gaara had not gotten to the gun in time, he had been occupied in assisting Temari to contain a seemingly powerful explosive. Sasori managed to get away from Kankuro long enough to get a shot in at the back of Gaara's leg. He didn't even flinch, to Naruto's utter amazement. He bled heavily but didn't seem to notice the open wound at all. Gaara had amazing tolerance for pain, it was amazing. He did, however, turn to offer a deathly glare to the other redhead. A firm, swift, unseeable punch to Sasori's chest succeeded Gaara's glare.

Naruto couldn't make a sound through the entire affair. He sat, clutching his bleeding arm, watching with eyes wide and mouth agape. Such a myriad of violence in such a limited time span. It didn't even seem as though he were there, witnesses everything. It felt more like he was watching this event from above, or from the safety of a chair when you watch a movie.

Which was why it stunned Naruto to the utmost amount when another bullet breezed through his right shoulder. It took him a moment to register what had happened. He didn't even feel the pain for what seemed like minutes.

Slowly, without moving an inch of his body other than his neck and head, he gazed down at the wound, fresh with his own crimson blood. Frozen in this new space he turned back to the scene before him. Kankuro was on the ground, bleeding and being brutally beaten in the face by Deidara's fist. Seems he'd gotten away from Temari while Gaara occupied himself in a battle of the redheads. It looked to Naruto that Deidara had somehow choked Temari for now she was leaning against the concrete wall in the corner, gasping for air and holding her throat tenderly.

Currently Sasori and Gaara were battling it out through their fists and feet, no weapons. Sasori had been releaved of his weapons, tossed to the ground to the left of Naruto, and Gaara was more the type not to carry any weapons in the first place. For if he did, he did not intend to use them by the way Naruto perceived things.

Soon Temari was her furious self again and unleashed her full out rage upon the other blonde, tearing him off her brother and throwing him against a wall. Deidara hit the wall and fell to the ground. Before he had the chance to recuperate, Temari's foot came down on his stomach, repeatedly.

Kankuro was pretty well unconscious, or so it seemed until he staggeringly stood up only to fall back against the wall and bleed from his head.

Suddenly, the redhead fight traveled near him, and Sasori was knocked down onto his back with a loud thud. It was at this point that Naruto realized it was the first sound he'd heard since he was first shot. The fallen boy seemed to be the jolt his mind needed to bring him back to reality and make him aware that everything was happening directly around him, beside him to be honest.

Gaara was soon down on Sasori, grabbing him by the collar and punching him repeatedly in the face. Sasori didn't react for a moment, and then his eyes turned on Naruto. The blonde's eyes widened as he was grabbed and tossed at Gaara, hitting him in the side and causing Gaara to stumble sideways. This gave Sasori the advantage to mount the other redhead and return the favor.

As those two fought it out, Naruto sat himself up again, failing to notice the fresh bruise on his forehead from when he fell against the pavement after knocking into Gaara. He didn't have much of a chance to breath before Sasori was thrown off of Gaara and onto him. Both fell to the ground. Sasori growled darkly, punching Naruto excessively at being in his way. However, the redhead soon received a kick in the back before he was torn away from the blonde.

It took Naruto a moment to regain himself. He took quite a few blows to the head. He was very woozy as he stood, blinking wildly he tried to maneuver away from the scene but was grabbed by the shoulder and thrown roughly against a wall. His head pounded against said brick wall, and rocked forward only to be forced back by a fist who he could not identify. As his head struck the wall once more, Naruto abruptly grew weak and as he tried to focus his blurry eyes, he realized everything was becoming dark.

--

Sasuke did not stop to consider what he'd just said, even though it was something he probably never would have said if the blonde was conscious or... alive.

Sobbing quietly, the raven's thumbs stroked his cheeks as he held firm onto his head. His thumbs traveled down over his chin and just below his jaw-line as he cried. A wave of shock shot through him when he felt something suddenly as his thumb brushed beside a particular spot on his upper neck. Frantically he returned his thumb to the very spot and held it firmly.

Sasuke's heart cried out when he found the faint pulse. It was like he was given a reason to live again. Tears poured uncontrollably down his face now, but these were not tears of pain nor sorrow, they were thankful and full of relief. He'd never been so relieved, so happy to have his inner self which so convincingly thought Naruto was... well, so happy to have been proved wrong in his entire life.

Very gently he pulled Naruto's head close to his own to kiss the bruised forehead. He was overwhelmed by his emotions by this time that he no longer had any coherent thoughts left. So all he could manage to do was sit kneel there. Clinging dearly to the love one he thought he'd lost.

A gasping breath dragged Sasuke's exhausted mind back to reality after a lost time that seemed like hours. He was startled so much that he jumped, causing Naruto's head to rock slightly, in turn causing a groan of pain.

"Naruto! I'm sorry. So sorry! Are you okay?" Sasuke's words frantically fell from his mouth. He didn't know what to say or do, this was the first time he could ever remember acting so irrationally and confused since that day...

"Sa... Sasu...ke?" The shaky, dry, voice spoke. His pain and weakness and exhaustion made brutally clear just by speaking one name.

"Yes, you're safe. I'm going to take you to a hospital and you're going to be fine." Slowly his coherent thoughts returned to him, one by one. He realized that he couldn't just sit here with the injured boy freezing on his steps. He needed to get him to a hospital where they could tend to his wounds, and keep him alive.

"N...no... hos..." Naruto couldn't even finish the sentence, before he slipped back into the realm of unconsciousness.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled desperately. He didn't want to risk losing him again, but he couldn't very well walk him back into town and to the other end just to get to the hospital. He wasn't that strong and it probably wouldn't be that wise to carry him all that way in the cold. What he needed to do was get him inside, out of the cold, and then call for an ambulance.

Gently, carefully, without trying to move the blonde too much, Sasuke picked him up with both arms. It was only when he had him comfortably in his arms that he realized he should have unlocked and opened the door before picking him up. Though it was quite a struggle to keep Naruto balanced as he dug for his keys with one hand and opened the door, he managed to get the door opened without rocking Naruto too much. And he even got the blonde through the doorway without smacking his head or legs or other limbs.

Quickly he brought the boy to his living room, where he gently eased his limp body onto the couch, supporting his bloody head with pillows.

"Naruto, you're going to be fine, I promise." The raven assured him with a kiss on the forehead as he caressed his check.

Though he didn't want to leave Naruto's side for even a moment, Sasuke made his way to the kitchen, picked up the phone and dialed the number of the hospital.

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Thanks for reading, sorry if the fight scene dragged on. It was my first attempt at writing out fighting, so I hope I didn't do too badly.